Casa Los Frailes Rubificado 2016

One of the three new wines in the portfolio is the 2016 Rubificado, produced exclusively with Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet), the second most planted grape after Monastrell in the Alforins Valley. It fermented with 50% full clusters and indigenous yeasts in old stone lagars and matured for ten months mostly in ancient 1,200-liter amphorae but also in old concrete vats from the 18th century. The nose is surprisingly elegant for a variety with a name as bad as Garnacha Tintorera, and I believe the stems bring good freshness and somehow counterbalances the rough tannins that can sometimes provide a slight metallic touch. The palate follows the same path of elegance. It ends with a fresh, acid touch. Rubificado (turns to ruby) is the name of the soil, a combination of limestone with iron (the soil has a red color, but the base is limestone). 7,250 bottles were filled in August 2018. - Luis Gutiérrez.